Chikkaballapur, 12 September

As many as 44 villages in Chikkaballapur district are currently facing drinking water shortage and are being supplied water through private borewells. The district administration has identified another 104 villages that are likely to face scarcity in the coming days.

Zilla Panchayat CEO Dr Naveen Y Bhat said on Saturday the administration was taking measures to ensure uninterrupted drinking water supply to vulnerable villages due to the prevailing drought-like situation.

The district has 1,159 drinking water purification units, of which 639 are managed by gram panchayats and 520 are operated by private agencies. Of the 29 units currently non-functional, repair works are being taken up, Bhat said.

Bhat added that there were no reported cases of people migrating from Chikkaballapur district in search of employment recently, something that has happened in other districts after the Centre replaced the demand-driven rural employment MGNREGA scheme with the supply-based VB-GRAM-G scheme.  

He said representations had been submitted to the State and Union governments seeking the release of pending funds under the MGNREGA scheme. Funds for works under the VBG-RAM-G scheme had already been released, and contractors could take up the works without apprehension, he said.